The markets got off to a slow start this week as traders
responded to a disappointing jobs number released Friday morning
(when the markets were closed).
The retail sector apparently shaved a good number of jobs, which
had some analysts wondering if the recent success in companies like
Apple (
AAPL
) and Amazon.com (
AMZN
) will correlate to even worse retail jobs data moving forward.
Those two tech/retail giants continue to dominate an even bigger
segment of the overall retail sales channel. I'm not sure how much
I would buy into this claim, however, as you can make the case for
discount retailers/warehouse clubs also cutting into jobs with a
price-conscious consumer being ever more prevalent.
Looking at today's movers, Microsoft (
MSFT
) shares ended slightly lower on news
the company is buying a large patent portfolio
from AOL (
AOL
). You can't help but wonder if future innovation in the tech space
will be stifled by ongoing patent wars. Meanwhile, Wall Street
analyst downgrades added to the selling of Walt Disney (
DIS
), Monsanto (
MON
), and CBS Corporation (
CBS
). One company that did see positive price action was
Sherwin-Williams (
SHW
), which
raised guidance on the back of strong paint
sales.
Dividend Stock Downgraded Today
Be sure to check out the dividend stock
we just removed
from our
Best Dividend Stocks
list this morning. We still like the name, but would wait to add
new money to the shares for now.
"Motivated by the Truth"
Anyone who is a fan of CBS' 60 Minutes program (which has on
television since 1968) is familiar with the probing work of
journalist Mike Wallace. Mr. Wallace passed away yesterday at the
age of 93.
When asked about Mr. Wallace's legacy, one media maven described
him as being "motivated by the truth." I like to think we operate
the same way here at Dividend.com. When we look at the financial
markets, we try to attack the constant flow of information, break
down what we see happening, and then anticipate will happen next.
We then pass this analysis on to subscribers in the simplest, most
succinct ways possible.
In contrast, much of today's business media focuses on the
flavor-of-the-day stories, with little in the way of follow-up on
key items that should continue to be monitored. I'm sure you've
noticed the popularity of the "top 5″ or "top 3″ stories major
outlets continually churn out. These attention-grabbing stories
usually offer little useful knowledge, regardless of the news niche
(sports, weather, business, etc.). The media treats each day as a
blank canvas and then pretty much discards those headlines the
following day. When the name of the game is a simple ratings grab,
you can't afford to spend too much time on older stories.
This trend can cause big trouble for investors. If you can not
make a longer-term case for making an investment, then all you have
is the casino-like approach of "get in and get out." You either win
or lose. This approach is disastrous for many investors, and
thankfully most of our subscribers want no part of it.
Whether you were a fan of Mike Wallace or not, you know his
interview was not based just on information learned in the last
half hour, but rather hundreds of hours of painstaking research.
Whatever your personal motivation is (success, wealth, truth), know
that it will require much more time than you originally believe it
will. Mr. Wallace certainly proved a great example of that
fact.
Holiday/Weekend Anecdotes
I had a great time sitting around the holiday table with my
family and getting a pulse of what people are seeing in their
personal and professional lives. A couple of my older relatives who
have had great academic careers and are now retired were discussing
a study they just came across. They noted that 30 years ago,
college graduates made 40% more than high school graduates. Today
the gap is now 83%! If you have someone close to you who may not be
thinking about college, that story may be a good nugget to pass
along.
Also, one of my cousins who has been successful in the concrete
business (in northern/central New Jersey) mentioned how tough
things still are out there. He's not seeing much new work coming up
on the grid, and whenever there is, he has numerous low bids to
contend with. Subsequently, a lot of his jobs entail fixing other
people's messes created by the subpar work of companies who
originally win the jobs based on low bidding.
Overall, the gist from my relatives was that things are still
tough out there. I urge everyone to be smart at all times when it
comes to money matters (career, investing, saving, etc.). I also
hope our readers were able to glean some good anecdotes from their
own families, and of course spend some quality time with those they
dearly love.
Our
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I hope everyone had a chance to check out our
Dividend.com Premium
members-only weekend articles , including new features that
highlight some of the biggest winners and losers from the week that
was, such as analyst upgrades/downgrades and earnings/story stocks.
These articles are a great way to catch up on the week that was in
the markets. We also have a rundown of how various Dividend ETFs
performed on the week.
Thanks for reading everybody. I'll see you tomorrow!
Be sure to visit our complete recommended list of the
Best Dividend Stocks
, as well as a detailed explanation of
our ratings system here
.